As a true testimony of the realms of 3D printing technology and the capabilities of this ultra-precise product design technique; the 3D printed Aston martin DB5 models created by Voxeljet (Augsburg-based 3D printing company) for James Bond Skyfall movie. Yes, the car that you see go up in flames during the intense action in the movie in-fact is a 1:3 scale model of the priceless 1960 Aston Martin DB5. To made the action scenes look realistic in the movie, 3D printing was the only option for the production team as they could never even think of putting the real car anywhere close to getting a scratch. Voxeljet were commissioned by Propshop to make three plastic models of Aston Martin DB5 and they used the advanced VX4000 3D printer to accomplish this task by making molds and models having dimension of 8 cubic meters.

The final model of these miniatures for James Bond movie cars are based on the assembly methods used for the real car using 18 individual components. Using the CAD data of the individual components, the layer-by-layer application of plastic particle PMMA material was then glued by a strong binding agent. In total 54 parts for these three scaled model vehicles were used including bonnets, roofs, mudguards and more which were then finally delivered to Propshop Modelmakers, Pinewood Studios in London. Thereafter Propshop personnel assembled, finished, lacquered the cars in original color, chromed and applied realistic bullet holes to complete the effect for this big-money movie.

One of these miniature 1960 Aston Martin DB5 model was auctioned by Christie’s for 100,000 USD in an event organized by Voxeljet which had 150 prospect customers for this innovative 3D printing company, and it was not surprising that all of them were spell-bound by the possibilities of 3D printing.

Hailing from the northern region of India, Gaurav has a profound liking for everything upbeat in the cloud and vision to acquaint readers with the latest technology news. He likes to observe nature, write thought provoking quotes, travel places, drive cars and play video games when things get too boring. And his food for thought comes from ambient music scores he listens to.